Spoiler alert: we didn’t particularly like Sardinia. We only experienced the northern third, and there are likely many wonderful things to be found – and touring by boat could be great. But as a driving adventure, it wasn’t our cup of tea (and doesn’t come anywhere near our love for Corsica).
Our route: Google Maps view
Costa Smeralda
Driving south from the ferry arrival port (Santa Teresa Gallura), our destination for the night was Orosei, with stops along the way. It’s not a beautiful drive, with smallish roads in average to neglected repair, and a lot of slow drivers. The landscape is hilly (not mountainous), dry, and fairly barren. In general, we have no interest in returning to the north-east coast of the island, though there are a few nice spots.
San Pantaleo
San Pantaleo was our first break, a “good place for shopping” – which it is! Lots of linen, handmade goods, and in general a pretty, rustic town, set against a backdrop of granite mountains. Parking is a bit tricky, but once in it’s a nice place for a break to stroll. We thought this town in general was worth a stop. We had a drink at **Qui & Ora, which looked new and run by a young couple. Caffe Nina was clearly the hotspot to eat, drawing a big crowd.
Porto Taverna
Lunch was at *Marco | Grill & Bar; a beach restaurant and club in Porto Taverna on the Mari Ermi beach. This was just okay, and the beach was not my thing at all – shallow and packed wall to wall with people.
Orosei
We bought into the hype about the Costa Smeralda and fell for the (impressive) marketing of *Albergo Diffuso Mannois, a “distributed hotel.” It’s about 70% good, with a decent rooftop restaurant with a view (**Ristorante Belohorizonte Orosei), average breakfast, well meaning if awkward staff. The town itself is quite unattractive (think apartment blocks), and the lodging truly distributed and pretty basic: a series of rooms scattered all over town. For the price, we’d expect more, like shampoo, kleenex, and decent bedding.
The hotel does have a nice beach club (one of many along the beach), and has free bikes for guests to get there – a nice touch. Overall, the coastline is a step up from Porto Taverna, far less packed. The menu didn’t look great at the beach club restaurant (again, very basic), and we had a lovely calm lunch with seafood about a km south at **Lungomare.
For our second night we had dinner with a view over the canal at the top of town at **Ristorante Belohorizonte, which I did like. It feels like it’s been around for ages, staff is nice, very much a date night crowd.
More tips on the region (interesting list, wasn’t super reliable, however):
https://italysegreta.com/the-hip-locals-guide-to-the-costa-smeralda
Passo Ghenna Silana
Before heading west we couldn’t resist a chance to check some of the ‘best roads in Sardinia.’ **Passo Ghenna Silana is legitimately pretty and in good repair. There’s a lot of traffic, but it’s worth driving to the summit for the views.
We also took the SP38 to Lula, but it wasn’t anything particularly remarkable.
Alghero
Overlooking the sea, Alghero is a very popular tourist destination in Sardinia, with a long, complex history of ownership. It has a wealth of medieval architecture, in a relatively compact space surrounded by protective barrier walls. There isn’t much to do, exactly – wandering the narrow streets is the main activity. We liked the ‘cat slum’ and found the church experiences a little odd. The crowd was pretty casual and there to party: it reminded me of Cabo and various other affordable tourist destinations in Mexico. A day was more than enough.
We stayed at **Hotel Villa Las Tronas – a historic property, once a residence of the Italian royal family who came to the villa for their holidays in Sardinia until the 1940s. It was built around 1880, then in the 1920s was restructured to vaguely resemble a medieval castle, and in 1961 became an exclusive hotel. I wouldn’t exactly not recommend it, but the service and dining is definitely not up to snuff, and it feels pretty forgotten. Nice rooms, private ocean access, and a pool. Good location, a nice easy walk into town.
We had dinner (a very good one – especially the excellent wine pairing) at **La Saletta, a bit tucked away on the outskirts of the historic center.
Romanesque Churches of Sardinia
If you’re into Romanesque churches (I am), there are many wonderful examples throughout the island. There’s been a lot of effort in the last few decades to catalog them, do some preservation, and make everything more accessible. The “Romanesque Route in Sardinia” project focuses on the churches built in Sardinia between the 11th and 14th centuries.
We made it to quite a few over two days, passing from the east to west sides of the island.
The **Basilica of Sant’Antioco, former cathedral of Bisarcio, is one of the largest Romanesque churches in Sardinia. While fairly isolated today, it was a very populated area in the 1100s. It was the largest and most impressive structure we saw, built on a large scale.
The first cathedral was built in the second half of the 11th century and subsequently damaged by a fire: the reconstruction was completed in 1174. All things considered, it remains in pretty good shape, though parts clearly collapsed and were replaced in certain sections. The surrounding towns and episcopal palace are largely gone, with minimal architectual remains.
**Santissima Trinità di Saccargia (finished in 1116) is very important and has great curb appeal – black and white striped basalt and limestone in bands in the Pisan style. Approaching from the west it appears strikingly in the distance. Up close, it’s a bit sad – aggressively “renovated” in the late 1800s without a lot of respect for the original design. It’s still very interesting, but the tone of the documentation is largely frustration around the changes made.
*Doria Castle, Chiaramonti, is obviously not a Romanesque church, although the original fortified structure was converted into a church in the late 1400s. I wouldn’t go out of your way to see this, as there just isn’t much left, and parking/access is a little complicated. It was built for political and defensive reasons but the Doria family: merchants who became influential landowners and consequently territorial lords.
We had an aborted attempt to see the Church of Saint Pantaleon in Martis (looked great from a distance), but Galen at this point was very fed up with narrow streets and barely paved surfaces, so we continued on to my favorite church in Sardinia: **Chiesa solstiziale di San Pietro delle Immagini.
Also known as ‘del Crocifisso’ (of the Crucifix) because of the wooden group of the Deposition dating back to the early 13th century, once kept inside and now housed at the nearby Church of San Sebastiano in Bulzi, San Pietro is a fine 12th century example of Pisan Romanesque style. We had a great guide who clearly cared about the place (and were the only people there). The structure was built in three stages (clearly visible), and the architects signed the roof beams – highly unusual and incredibly useful to date the remote property. Like the other churches, this was once part of a larger complex.
Before continuing on to Olbia, we had one last meal at **Hotel Ristorante Golden Gate in Settentrionale Sarda. It’s a big place in the middle of nowhere, packed with people. It was the best meal we had in Sardinia – worth a stop!
Last one – Olbia. The **Basilica di San Simplicio is one of Sardinia’s most important religious monuments, on a small hill with a long sacred history spanning Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans and the early Christians. It is believed to be the spot where Simplicio, the patron saint of Olbia. was persecuted for his Christian beliefs and killed on 15 May 304 AD. The Romanesque basilica, built from granite, was constructed in three distinct phases, beginning in the 11th century. It’s in very good shape, and has some wonderful carved details.
Olbia – to our surprise, the most interesting town we stopped in! I’m not convinced it needs an overnight, but a few hours were pleasant to wander around the fairly charming old town. Good architecture, lots of restaurants and bars. We did appreciate the **Museo Archeologico di Olbia, with a good historic boat collection and overview of the many stages of habitation (and it has A/C).
